Monthly Archives: September 2016

One rainy Friday night, Patrick and I had a rare date at Flame in Discovery Primea. FLAME is Discovery Primea’s modern European restaurant on the 16th floor of the hotel. An interesting space, FLAME is the newest creation under the partnership of General Manager David Pardo de Ayala and Executive Chef Luis Chikiamco.

“Modern European cuisine is about cooking techniques, ingredients and flavor associations, rather than hard and fast rules. It is a style of cooking that experiments with ideas and influences from many different countries, reflecting the global palate of today’s diners. Restaurant FLAME balances familiarity and originality, comfort with surprise, local with global,” says GM Ayala.

This “living chandelier” at the entrance of the restaurant is stunning.

I love these air plants!

The interior was conceptualized by Design Worldwide Partnership. There is an expansive marble-top open kitchen surrounds the entire restaurant.

We had the US Angus Rib Eye steak. It warns you that it’s good enough for two. But in my world, it’s actually good enough for 4! It was excellent.

Patrick also had the “Take Out” Lobster Fried Rice – with pork, citrus jasmine rice, egg, and lobster remoulade. Unfortunately, my shellfish days are over. About three years ago, I developed an allergy towards shellfish and other farmed fish. Oh my. But this looked so so good!

Dinner menu

I enjoyed the olive oil infused with garlic, rosemary, peppercorn and lemon.

I’m not a big dessert person. But give me chocolate soufflé any time. This is their Hot Chocolate Souffle – with Colombian coffee foam, caramelized bananas, and vanilla ice cream. So good.

Flame is a lovely dinner spot. I really enjoyed the food and the space. I felt like I was transported to a very cosmopolitan city. The dining area allows for the creation of smaller spaces for more intimate parties. They also have an interesting lunch menu, you may view all the current menus here.

This brings me back to Discovery Primea’s wonderful restaurant on the ground floor – Tapenade.

Last February, my family had a staycation at Discovery Primea. Sophia celebrated her birthday at Tapenade.

The Salad Room was a hit. I was happy with that alone. But grateful that we also had incredible mains and other goodies.

New at Tapenade, the Mediterranean Grilled Platter includes an indulgent selection of specialty skewers, with the freshest Beef, Lamb, Chicken, and Prawns. Traditional Mediterranean sides of tabouleh, pita, cucumber raita, and spiced rice complete this abundant platter.

Good news, Tapenade Salad Room has Throwback Thursdays. Every Thursday, they’re rolling back the clock to when you first fell in love with The Salad Room. They’re throwing back to the original price of Php 620++!

Restaurant Tapenade’s Salad Room offers the freshest salad bar in Makati, filled from top to bottom with healthy greens, fresh oysters, exotic cheeses, and so much more. All your favorites, and new additions will be available, at the original price. Throwback Thursdays at Restaurant Tapenade. Available for Lunch and Dinner

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I am like a Mommy chauffeur. My daily schedule revolves around my girls’ school drop off and pick up times. I fix my work commitments so that I can pick up my kids every day. It isn’t as tedious as it sounds. It actually brings me a lot of joy seeing their faces light up when I’m the one picking them up in school. Usually the ride home from school is filled with chatter from all three girls competing for my attention — lots of stories.

In my other life, outside of mommying, I still have to attend to my work — meetings, design and deliver jewellery, attend product launches, host events, do interviews, appear as guest in TV features, have shoots — you get the picture. My September started with my amazing book launch for CHIC: Tips on Life, Style and Work. It has been crazy hectic. I need a vehicle that can take me to places in comfort and style. I usually bring extra bags containing a change of shoes and some make up. I love doing my make up in the car (because of the natural light), so I need a car that runs smoothly. Needless to say, someone drives for me 99% of the time.

The past couple of weeks we have been using the all-new Montero Sport. I was able to test drive this best-selling mid-size Sport Utility Vehicle which won the Top Gear Philippines Shakedown comparing it to all midsize SUVs. It boasts of better performance, comfort and safety. What I like most though, is that it’s a stunner I can take with me wherever.

We have three of these huge suitcase-like school bags that have to be loaded in the back of the car.

My siblings in Toronto are shocked that I can drive in Metro Manila with no hassle. In fact, I find it easier to drive here than in North America because I’m terrified of speed.

The back seats fold up completely flat, leaving a large space for cargo. Perfect for when I do grocery shopping like there’s no tomorrow.

The Montero Sport comes with luxurious black seats. I found the seats very comfortable. It had enough support for my picky back and neck, yet it wasn’t too firm. It was just right.

The seats have a multi-layer cushion with more rounded shoulder which supports the position of your upper torso comfortably. That’s a shameless selfie before going to pilates.

The Montero Sport is fitted with an array of active and passive safety features.

As a mom, I am very strict with seatbelts and carseats. My kids are beyond carseat sizes now. But they always wear seat belts.

Admittedly, with all the errands that I have to do, having a driver is really a huge perk. I don’t have to worry about parking the car myself.

This was the time we dropped off my brother-in-law at the airport. Stella sat comfortably at the back. Seatbelts!

I sat in the driver seat, passenger side, back seats. All comfortable.

We liked that there were different temperature controls for the aircon vents. I’m not a fan of super cold cars. While my husband and kids always want cold air blasting in their faces.

I love it when the Skyway is clear and not congested. It makes living in Metro Manila so much more pleasant.

The GPS was enjoyed by my driver. I didn’t have to share my phone/Waze anymore.

On weekends we find ourselves in our soon-to-be cottage (I hope) where we have a few vegetables planted. So we drove to the “farm” in the Montero Sport.

This little piece of heaven already feels like home for the kids.

Traffic was horrendous, as it was a long weekend. But the kids were so comfortable in the back seat. There is a third row for seats but that weekend we used it for cargo. So all three stayed in the second row. And they were more than fine.

We brought some special banana seedlings to the farm.

That pot is huge and it still left plenty of room in the back.

Montero Sport still looks bold and stylish while being sporty. We couldn’t drive it in to the property because we are still mapping out our vegetable patches.

While I am still sketching my site plan, we need to figure out where the driveway would be.

We dropped off our special banana and bamboo plants and brought home some harvest.

Back in the city, on days when I am not working as a host or speaking somewhere, I go about my errands in comfort.
And from my non-technical assessment, I would say that the comfort and ease of the Montero Sport fits my lifestyle – both urban and rural. It is CHIC!

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We were invited by Raffles Makati to try their “New York State of Mind”, the fourth in its Prêt-a-PorTea series, with the legendary Tiffany & Co. at the Writers Bar. My girls and I love afternoon tea. So we took them up on the offer and made a date of it. We dressed up in our lovely clothes on a rainy Saturday afternoon, and had a mommy and daughters day.

The Prêt-a-PorTea sweet and savoury creations are inspired by Tiffany and the Big Apple.

I can’t tell you enough how much joy it brings me to be able to spend slow days with my three daughters. I savour every moment.

So much loveliness – the iconic Tiffany Blue Box caramel cake, a white-chocolate bracelet inspired by Tiffany’s iconic T collection, bite-sized apple coated in chocolate-caramel, a sweet take on the Big Apple, and the famed cronut.

The kids were so charmed by the setting, they kept taking pictures. Each of the Tiffany-inspired afternoon tea three-tier pastries is good for two people. It includes other treats like the classic New York cheesecake and all-American favorites, like the lemon meringue pie, creamy strawberry-shortcake, and sour-cherry whoopee pie.

My not so little Sophia now wears Just G (a subsidiary of Gingersnaps). Her purse is a hand-me-down from me, a cute Kate Spade bag. Her sneakers are from Paez shoes.

Raffles Makati’s “New York State of Mind” Prêt-a-PorTea series.

You may enjoy this delicately designed afternoon tea from September 1 to November 30, offered from 2:30PM to 5:30PM daily at Php 1500++ for two. Add a glass of champagne at Php 900++ for a sparkling afternoon. For more information and reservations, please call the Raffles Makati Restaurant Reservations at +632 795 1840, or email dining.makati@raffles.com.

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Are you ready for this? Every year, I look forward to this Members’ Treat Sale at S&R. It is fun and crazy and totally worth it. The deals are incredible. A couple of years ago I was able to do my Christmas shopping. Not only were groceries on sale, but also gift items and housewares were marked down or on two-for-one. This is one of their biggest sales where they offer 50% off on items and even Buy 1 Take 1 deals.

I like going to S&R during mornings, usually after my Pilates class. This was a regular shopping day, not a Member’s Treat Sale.

Also taken during a lean time.

I’m sure you have your own strategy for hitting this Members’ Treat Sale. Do you go on the first day? Do you go morning, midday, or near closing time? Do you go alone so you focus? Or do you bring the whole family? Do you meet up with other mommy friends? The way I do it is I go alone so I can concentrate, haha. My husband is a minimalist when it comes to shopping. I also come with a general gift list because those Buy 1 Take 1 deals are really amazing. Then I like sending updates on my chat groups with my cousins and mommy friends. They do the same. We let each other know what the best deals are. If I need reinforcement (an extra cart), I ask my driver to come in so we have two carts. There, that’s my strategy.

I am wishing that these things are on 50% off – household cleansers, toilet paper, organic chicken stock, quinoa, chia seeds, chopped garlic, Chicago mix popcorn, Christmas tins of anything, and other surprises like coffee tumblers, lunch boxes, flashlights, bath mats, towels. My wish list can go on and on. I can’t wait til S&R releases the official list of items on sale. But I am also open to surprises.

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We take coffee seriously in our house. Patrick is very particular about the brewing process, the type of beans, the way they’re roasted, how they’re poured. We used to have an espresso coffee machine with special plastic pods of ground coffee. But after using it for a while, we felt guilty about the amount of trash it produced. Those plastic pods end up polluting the seas even if they promise to be biodegradable. So we went the extreme opposite and handcrafted every cup of coffee.

Patrick’s daily love offering to me is my morning coffee. Haha. Because I missed the convenience of a coffee machine, he promised he would make my coffee for me. And he did everything from scratch. Newly roasted coffee beans (bought in small batches to ensure freshness) was ground by hand and poured over a canvas sieve.

My kitchen started to look like a science lab. Sometimes Patrick used his Japanese siphon. These coffee stories made it to my book, CHIC, Tips on Life, Style, and Work. Sophia drew all the illustrations of her dad’s coffee paraphernalia.

A few months ago, I got a call from Anj Imperial, PR of Concept Specialist Inc. She asked me if I was interested to visit the De’Longhi showroom and see their newest top of the line machine – the PrimaDonna Elite. Before she continued, I had to ask her, “Does the machine use pods? Because if so, we won’t be interested because it produces too much garbage.” She said it does not. It uses whole or ground beans. And it has a built-in grinder. She told me more about the brand and that they had other kitchen appliances. So I made that special trip to Quezon City.

At the De’Longhi showroom in Quezon City where I met Anj and the GM Joenie Hung.

We talked all about coffee.

I was introduced to the new PrimaDonna Elite which was then just about to launch. Since I wasn’t going to attend the launch because of a trip to Tokyo, they gave me a private preview and demo.

The PrimaDonna Elite has an intuitive interface – 4.3” colour touch display – making it easy to choose any of the preferred coffee-based beverages in one touch.

This is the PrimaDonna Elite. That carafe on the right is for hot chocolate.

With the coloured touch display of the PrimaDonna Elite, you can personalise any drink to perfectly match any taste. You can also set-up your own personal profile by memorising ideal aroma, as well as temperature and quantity of coffee and milk for each drink.

Perhaps what makes the PrimaDonna Elite even more special is that you can control the machine remotely by using your cellphone. Just download the Coffee Link App.

PrimaDonna Elite is the first De’Longhi machine with connectivity. You can select your favourite drinks, create new recipes with complete freedom and discover infinite personalizations.

The De’Longhi LatteCrema System ensures dense and creamy milk froth with a silky smooth texture for any of the coffee-based milk drinks. The LatteCrema System always delivers best in-cup result: the perfect density – the perfect creaminess – at the perfect temperature, until the last drop.

And here I was thinking I had given up milk-based coffee. After tasting the milk froth of the De’Longhi machine, I’m back to drinking cappuccinos and flat whites.

Look at the layers and gradation. This machine allows you to create your favourite cup of coffee with exceptional standards, just like a Barista.

With a De’Longhi bean-to-cup coffee maker, you can quickly and easily enjoy the experience of a perfect Italian espresso at home. Source: The Coffee Chronicle by De’Longhi.

Each time you make coffee, it is guaranteed to be fresh because the beans are freshly grounded by the integrated grinder and the professional brewing unit takes care of preparing full-flavoured expressos. Source: The Coffee Chronicle by De’Longhi.

Imagine all the coffees you can create with just the touch of one button. Latte art, not included. Source: The Coffee Chronicle by De’Longhi.

Then it was my turn to welcome De’Longhi in to my home. After our Japan trip, De’Longhi delivered this beautiful PrimaDonna DeLuxe XS.

Unboxing is always a thrill.

PrimaDonna XS DeLuxe is the compact version of the PrimaDonna Elite. It does everything the same way, minus the touch screen, App capability, and chocolate carafe.

Space is an issue in my kitchen. The De’Longhi’s slim, space-saving bean to cup coffee maker sits perfectly in my kitchen counter. It no longer looks like a science lab.

The PrimaDonna DeLuxe XS is so sleek. I love Italian design. Now we can make cappuccino, cafe latte, cafe macchiato, espresso , steamed milk using freshly ground coffee beans. It is so easy to use.

The PrimaDonna Deluxe XS features a patented Autocappuccino System for the perfect cappuccino, latte macchiato, caffe latte and hot milk, automatic cleaning integrated in the froth regulating knob, extra cappuccino device for steam and hot water, personalizing from short, medium or long. You can try a strong or extra mild aroma, enjoy it piping hot, medium or low temperature. The machine can be used with either coffee beans or ground coffee. The coffee bean container can hold 150 gr. There is an active cup warmer with dedicated button. You can prepare two cups of coffee with a single brewing. The coffee grinder has 13 adjustable settings. To top it all off, it is so easy to clean.

Patrick and I are back to using a coffee machine, and not just an ordinary one. We have De’Longhi’s top of the line compact machine. His other coffee gadgets are still there for times he wishes to make hand-crafted coffee, but that doesn’t happen too often.

That visit to the DeLonghi showroom in Quezon City opened up a whole new level for our appreciation of the art of making coffee. I also saw their complete line of kitchen appliances like – low-oil fryer and multi cooker, electric ovens, stylish kettles and toasters, bread makers. I ended up with an amazing mini convection oven that makes bread. Will blog about that next.

Concept Specialist Inc. is the official distributor of global brands such as De’Longhi, Sanremo Coffee Machines, Thermoplan and Fetco, and is the first in Asia to launch De’Longhi’s PrimaDonna Elite at the new Shangri-La at the Fort in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig.